Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Prince Charles heading to East Asia

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 7, 2008 at 6:14 PM

LONDON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Prince Charles has declined to abandon a planned East Asian trip because of the credit crisis, with a spokesman saying the tour will help Britain.

The prince's wife, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, will accompany him to Japan and Brunei but, in a controversial move, she will fly home instead of going to Indonesia, The Daily Telegraph reported. The prince's office said that she will fly back to Britain on a scheduled flight and the cost of her ticket will not be born by the taxpayers.

The duchess needs time to rest up before a trip to France with her husband to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I, said the spokesman, also citing the heat and humidity of Indonesia. Camilla carries out about 230 official engagements a year, about half as many as her 82-year-old mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth.

The 10-day trip is expected to cost 500,000 pounds (almost $1 million) in spite of cost-cutting efforts like reducing the size of the royal entourage from 20 to 12.

"Despite the costs, and the current economic situation, the government has confirmed that it wants this tour to go ahead given the strategic priorities this trip will address," the prince's office announced. "Clearly the trip takes place against the backdrop of considerable international turmoil."

Topics: Camilla Duchess, Prince Charles
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
Top 5 answers are on the board: "Name some woman Richard Dawson will kiss inappropriately in heaven."...
You know those modular classrooms where you had to go for your art and French classes in high school?...
Ugly ass baby giraffe born in Southern Illinois zoo. Adorable pictures "я" us
If your neighbors ask if you and your wife are into swapping and suggest having a swapping party...
It's a lie
The hot new baffling non sequitur: Marrying yourself, complete with vows and ceremony. Subby is...